Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
.jpg) USS Intrepid seen from the Hudson |
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| place | New York City |
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US Navy, Aerospace
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| opening | 1982 (reopened in 2008) |
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The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is located in New York City . It is on the banks of the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan ( Pier 86 at 46th Street). The museum presents the former aircraft carrier USS Intrepid , converted into a museum ship , as well as other historical technical exhibits from the areas of the US naval forces, aviation and space travel.
history
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The Essex-class aircraft carrier, which entered service in 1943 , was saved from scrapping in 1978 through an initiative by Zachary Fisher and his wife Elizabeth M. Fisher after it was decommissioned in 1974 . The couple set up the Intrepid Museum Foundation for this purpose . Four years later, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum opened in August 1982 . The Intrepid has been on the list of National Historic Landmarks since 1986 .
On October 1, 2006, the museum was closed for renovation and repair work on the pier and the museum ship. On November 6, 2006, the first attempt to tow the Intrepid away from Pier 86 failed because the amount of silt that had accumulated behind the hull was underestimated. After extensive dredging work, the ship was towed to Bayonne (New Jersey) on December 5, 2006 and brought to the dock for restoration, again with considerable difficulties due to the silt and low water level.
After the work in Bayonne, the exhibition areas at the Intrepid in Staten Island were edited and expanded. On October 2nd, 2008 the ship was towed back to its original place. The museum was reopened on November 8, 2008 with a large public participation.
Essential exhibits
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In addition to the main exhibit, the USS Intrepid , which was in service in the Pacific during World War II and in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War and to salvage NASA's Mercury and Gemini landing capsules , many aircraft are exhibited on the ship's flight deck . These include common types such as Grumman TBF , McDonnell F-4 , Grumman F-14 , General Dynamics F-16 , Douglas A-4 , Grumman A-6 and Hawker Siddeley Harrier , but also rare types such as the Lockheed A-12 . In addition, some helicopters such as the AH-1 Cobra and Bell UH-1 from the Vietnam War and a Sikorsky S-62 of the United States Coast Guard are on deck. In addition to the carrier which is USS Growler (SSG-577) , a cruise missile submarine of the Gray Back class , which was donated to the museum 1988th
In addition to the military exhibits, the British Airways Concorde (G-BOAD) civil airliner has been on display since 2004 . The Concorde replaced the destroyer USS Edson (DD-946) , which was next to the Intrepid on the pier from 1989 to 2004 .
The Space Shuttle Enterprise , previously exhibited in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum , was brought to New York on April 27, 2012 and has been on display since July 19, 2012 in the “Space Shuttle Pavilion”. The Enterprise served from 1977 to test the flight capabilities of space shuttles in the atmosphere, but was not suitable for flight into space.
environment
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is located in an area that is primarily used for tourist activities. The New York Passenger Ship Terminal , the Circle Line and a helicopter platform for sightseeing flights around Manhattan are in the immediate vicinity of the museum. The Consulate of the People's Republic of China is located diagonally opposite on 12th Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets .
The museum as a backdrop
In the film The Legacy of the Knights Templar starring Nicolas Cage , a key scene takes place at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum .
In I am Legend , Will Smith plays golf from the port elevator of a Lockheed A-12 parked at the bow of the flight deck, aiming at the deserted Manhattan.
In the film Sully , the main character, flight captain Chesley Sullenberger (played by Tom Hanks ), looks at a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II on the flight deck of the USS Intrepid after a flashback from Pier 88 . However, it is not the copy that can be viewed in the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum , but an animated machine. The museum can also be seen in several scenes along with the silhouette of Manhattan.
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 45 ′ 53 ″ N , 74 ° 0 ′ 3 ″ W.